Camel Riding in Iran, fun fun fun
Amina had already told us that the desert in Iran is not really safe, but yesterday night we've met some local guides and they asked us if we wanted to ride on camels. They told us the area we would visit was safe and there was no army is this area and no violation of the law.
A frenchman in the hotel's bar named Jérome has many connections over here and he told he would come with us. So we didn’t hesitate and we told the local guides that we liked to do the camel ride. On top of it all Jérome told that at our current location there only has been one abduction and this one was maybe 7 months earlier.
Amina has written that tourists get abducted because of the economy in Iran. The economy is now on a low flame. The abductors want to earn money by asking a ransom to the tourists their family. Iran's economy is divided in two, first of all you have 50 % of the public sector and the other 50 % is dominated by the oil and gas production in Iran.
The thing where I was surprised about is that Iran is the 17th largest in purchasing power parity. Also this country is a member of the Next Eleven. The Next Eleven are eleven countries (Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Turkey, South Korea and Vietnam) that are marked by the BRIC’s, and they actually have the chance to become one of the world’s largest economies in the 21st century.
So wednesday we woke up early and took the bus to Yazd. Whilst driving there we were longing to see the beautiful camels that were waiting on us. Words cannot describe how beautiful they were. They were so gentle with us! It was almost cute. Of course, before we mounted, I took some pictures of these creatures.
We had booked an “Iran Desert Tour”. This tour was to take about two days. There are not many touristic tours near the place were staying. First we did not know that Iran has a diverse landscape. You have the ability to hike and ski in the Alborz mountains and you also have the possibility to go for a beach holiday at the Persian Gulf and the Caspian Sea.
According to one of my information sources I have read that Iran is a safe country to visit, people are prepared to help you in any difficulty and this is a matter of national pride.
Robbery in Iran is rare and the secret police leaves the tourists alone. The only advice this website has given is not to talk to women on the street. This probably due to political and religious reasons.
In the southeastern area of Iran there’s a lot of drug traffic and smuggling from Afghanistan. There are also some other crimes like robbery, killing and kidnapping. The 3 most dangerous cities in this area are Zahedan, Zabol and Mirjaveh. That’s why we won’t go there during our visit in Iran.
So the first day of our tour we started in Yazd and went to Mehdeyahbad. First we walked with the camels (we actually sat on them, of course) to Mehdeyahbad. After the Camel Ride we went back to Mehriz where we had lunch and after lunch we visited Yazd castle Caravanserai. After visiting this castle we moved on from Yazd to Garmeh, here we visited Kharanakh which is an old village and Caravanserai which is a place where people could rest with their caravans. After visiting these places we moved on to Bayazah, which is a small city and from there on we passed through Aroosan village and Garmeh.
At night we ate together with some other tourist and slept in tents (which was awesome by the way). It was like an old girls night.
The next morning we visited Salt Lake and from there on we moved on to Sahara-e-Mesr, here we had a little rest an moved on to Jandakh.
One of the tourists we met earlier at the hotel was Jérome de Fouillard, Jérome is from France and he already had visited Belgium in the past. We talked about Bruges, Antwerp, Ghent, etc. And he told us, (he’s a world traveler) that Belgium is in his top 10. Jérome had had some problems with the army of Iran but luckily he could solve this with his connections that he has with the French Embassy.
At night we all were very tired and went to a hotel in Yazd called “Fahadan Great Hotel”. This hotel has a high ranking and there was no way we could afford this, especially at the end of our trip, but again, Jérome spoke to his connections and we could stay here one night for free. We were so thankful. That’s why we had dinner with him tonight and of course we paid his bill. It was an instructive night, especially because we had the chance to exchange our experiences about travelling. According to our experiences Jérome is now moving on to Thailand.
I’m very tired now, these two days where truly amazing and I won’t forget about the camel ride.
Sweet dreams and see you soon.
Julie
Sources:
https://www.irpedia.com/iran-tours/1/3/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Iran
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Next_Eleven
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tourism_in_Iran
https://www.letsgoiran.com/iran-safety-for-tourists
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